


Echoes

by NightingaleTrash



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Alec Survives Habitat 7, Gen, Ryder family secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25715230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightingaleTrash/pseuds/NightingaleTrash
Summary: Sara's prepping to hit Meridian with her fellow Pathfinders when Alec decides to divulge some important information that changes everything.
Relationships: Alec Ryder & Female Ryder | Sara
Kudos: 9





	Echoes

“Pathfinder, your father wishes to see you on the Hyperion as soon as possible. It seems he has more information to share with you.”

Sara paused, one foot on the ramp that led into the Tempest. 

She’d just finished up a meeting with the other Pathfinders, and now they were supposed to be prepping to leave. Officially they were planning to scout the Scourge together, to make supply runs between the Nexus, the Outposts, and Aya somewhat safer. In reality, they were defying the leadership’s orders and seeking out Meridian, consequences be damned.

And of course this was the precise moment that her father decided that he had more secrets to share.

“SAM, tell Gil and Kallo to get to work on installing the Ghost Storm tech while I meet with Dad. It shouldn’t take long.”

“Right away Pathfinder. Alec is waiting for you in his quarters.”

Without further ado, she turned on heel and headed back down onto the docks, trying to avoid the gazes that followed her as she went. Instead she just beelined for the tram, input her destination, and settled herself down on a bench as the tram car rumbled to life and began to move, a slow crawl at first before rapidly picking up speed.

As she waited, Sara wondered what else Alec could possibly have to tell her about. 

Perhaps he knew more about the Benefactor than he’d originally let on. Did he have some theory about Garson’s murder that he was ready to share? Perhaps he had suspects, and he was ready to bring her up to speed.

It was impossible to guess, which was disconcerting for Sara. For all his flaws, she’d thought she had known her father quite well. To see how much he had kept to his chest, that he had never let slip… It didn’t sit right. He’d always encouraged her to seek out the truth, to unravel the mysteries laid before her.    
When she was young, he’d give her ends of threads to tug on and chase to see where they led; he’d always praised her when she reached the thread’s end and immediately asked for more. He had always nurtured her curiosity, her determination. 

It felt wrong for him to be keeping her in the dark.

The tram came to a halt, and Sara wasted no time making her way to her father’s quarters. She nodded to the guard, then knocked on the door before stepping inside.

He wasn’t at his terminal for once. He was sitting at the table that occupied the kitchenette and he looked… tired. More so than he usually did these days. That struck her as odd, and it meant that whatever he had to tell her was indeed important.

His walking stick was propped up beside him, and he heaved a sigh as she walked around the bookshelf.

“Sara.” 

He gestured for her to take the seat behind him. Sitting on the table in front of him was a heavy, black computer device of some kind - it was Milky Way tech, the expensive, long lasting kind.

“What’s this?” she asked, sitting down and gesturing to the box.

“Something that got smuggled onto the Hyperion before it left the Milky Way,” he huffed. “You remember my correspondences with Doctor T’Soni?”

“You consulted her about her research into the Protheans, and even invited her to join the Initiative.”

He nodded.

“Well, in 2186, after we entered stasis, she sent me a final message that told me where to find… this. On board the Hyperion.”

He gestured to the box. Then he heaved another sigh and, hesitantly, reached over and grasped Sara’s hand in what was clearly a part of his continued efforts to be more open with her.

“Sara. What I’m about to tell you… It’s going to be a lot. Maybe too much. Even I still don’t quite know how to-”

He cut himself off, then shook his head and drew a deep breath.

“There’s no un-knowing this. I want you to be prepared for that. Because it  _ will _ change everything about what it is we’re doing here. About what you need to achieve. And I need to know if you think you’re ready for this.”

A cold tendril crept into her chest, nesting awkwardly beneath her sternum.

Her father had always been a serious man, but this was intense even for him. There was only certainty in his voice, the sort of unshakable absolution that scared her. Because she could see it in his eyes - this knowledge, the weight of it, bore down unforgivingly on him. Sometimes she thought she had glimpsed it in his eyes. Some terrible burden that he alone carried. 

Before she had thought it was the deterioration of her mother’s health, the onset of her death, and the responsibilities of being Pathfinder. Now, she had to wonder if it was in fact the contents of this box that haunted him.

She met his gaze and gripped his hand tightly.

“We’re going after the heart of the network. Meridian could be the key to fixing this mess. I need to know the stakes.”

And while Alec didn’t quite smile, but there was pride in his eyes. She’d met his expectations with the Vault on Eos, and then soared beyond them as Pathfinder. And there was grief too. Whatever he was about to tell her, it was about to destroy some fundamental part of her. 

Everything was about to change.

“I’m sure you heard about your sister’s investigation into Saren,” he begun. “The attack on Eden Prime and his alliance with the Geth.”

She remained silent and listened intently. Maybe Alec had hoped she would ask questions, if only to delay the worst, but there was no sense in it. And he knew it too.

“She discovered that Saren was just a pawn of a race of sentient machines that the Protheans called Reapers. These… machines, these Reapers, they hide out in dark space. And every fifty thousand years, they come into the Milky Way to destroy all advanced, spacefaring organic life.”

Sara’s grip on her father’s hand tightened, and her knuckles turned white as the implications slowly became clear. She stared at him, her gaze intense and her mouth completely dry. But Alec just reached for the box and tapped something into its console.

It buzzed into life, and a hologram of an all-too-familiar ship popped out from the top of it. Like a strange, mechanical cuttlefish. Sara felt her stomach twist just looking at it, and she hadn’t even seen it in person. Casey had had that pleasure, and he still didn’t like to talk about it.

“This was Sovereign, a vanguard of the Reaper invasion. According to the notes Doctor T’Soni sent me, it indoctrinated Saren into carrying out its will. The Citadel was actually a mass relay, and it wanted Saren to open that relay to let the Reapers through.

“Eydis managed to stop Saren. But it didn’t stop the invasion. Just delayed it a few years.”

He paused, squeezing Sara’s hand.

“There’s something I want you to see. One of my memories. If… you’re up for it.”

Sara just nodded. She didn’t  _ feel _ up for it, but she had so many questions. Too many. She needed to know everything before it ate her up inside.

“SAM, initiate memory block removal, then begin live replay.”

“A moment. Memory blocks removed. This memory is dated 2184; it pertains to one of your final conversations with Castis Vakarian.”

Sara blinked. Castis-?

She didn’t get time to reflect, because all of a sudden she wasn’t Sara anymore. She was no longer sitting at a table with her father on the Hyperion - she was sitting alone at a desk on Earth, with the familiar face of Castis Vakarian on the display in front of her.

“Castis, thanks for calling. Not a lot of people still admit to knowing me.”

“I owe you. Those were good days on the Citadel, Alec.” 

Castis paused and glanced down, his mandibles flicking like they always did when he was thinking. After a moment of contemplation, he looked back up with a sort of resignation.

“I checked with my son, Garrus. He works there now. C-Sec.”

“And?”

“He says that the Council thinks Commander Shepard’s story is bogus.”

“Uh huh. But?”

“Privately, I’ve heard they’re starting to wonder.” He leant in closer and checked over his shoulder quickly, another old habit of his.

“This threat. They’re called… ‘Reapers’?”

Castis nodded.

“Shepard’s word for them. Something about a cycle. An extinction event that happens every fifty-thousand years. Galaxy-wide. And supposedly the alarm clock’s about to go off again.”

Sara- no, Alec shook his head.

“Unbelievable.”

“I know, but according to Garrus, Shepard’s as level-headed as they come. Takes after you - an N7.”

There was a knowing look in the old turian’s eye, and Alec turned his head. There was an old photo standing on his desk - a young blonde woman with her mother’s bright blue eyes and hooked nose, decked out in N7 armour alongside Alec. Both saluting. Not even touching. She was smiling that confident smile, the one that said she knew exactly what she was doing. Having survived Akuze, it wasn’t like anyone could say she didn’t.

There was a pang of an old, worn regret in Alec’s chest. He’d never been much of a father to Eydis, given the circumstances of her birth. Being her mentor in N7 felt like the universe’s way of biting him in the ass for it. Now, while he was running away to a whole new galaxy, she was the one taking up the fight for this one’s survival.

Castis wasn’t wrong about much, but as far as Alec was concerned, Eydis was far more fortunate to have taken after her mother more than she had him.

“-if the Commander says these Reapers are coming, I don’t want to be around to see them.”

Alec snapped back to attention. There was no point in moping about it now. Eydis had her own life, her own career, and even her own ship. She hadn’t missed out on much.

“Thanks Castis.”

He nodded.

“Take care.”

Castis hung up, and Alec- the memory blanked for a moment, and Sara could only see darkness. When it returned, the ever changing face of the Benefactor had taken the old turian’s place.

“I checked around,” Alec said grimly. “There might be something to this.”

The Benefactor’s lips pursed, even as their face swapped to that of a salarian.

“If these is a war, the scramble for resources would be on a scale we’ve never seen before. The chaos will be monumental.”

“We should accelerate our timetable.”

“Though we’ll keep the reason quiet. No need to alarm anyone. But the arks must be underway before any fighting starts. We can’t get caught in the crossfire.”

“Agreed.”

There was a long pause and the Benefactor’s turian-mandibles quivered.

“Is there something else?”

Another pause as Alec weighed the pros and cons with bringing this up, but it had been bothering him ever since the rumours started circulating. Eydis had stirred up a great deal of trouble, and even though most of the details were classified, people were talking about what little they knew. And there was something they had said that was gnawing at him.

“Years ago, you mentioned ‘salvation’ for a lot of people…” He leant forward in his seat and glowered at the screen. “You knew this was coming.”

The turian became a krogan.

“I knew  _ something _ was coming. In theory. Shepard made it real.”

“And now that you’re right?”

An asari took the krogan’s place, and she wore a knowing smile that didn’t meet her eyes.

“We’ll need a new home. We’re going to be all that’s left of civilisation.”

…

Slowly, Sara became aware of the fact that she was once again sitting in the Hyperion, and that she was Sara. Viewing her father’s memories always proved to be a disorienting experience, but this…

She looked around at him slowly. Her jaw was locked, her whole body was tense, and she had to fight the urge to be violently sick. But he just sat there, holding her hand, and looking… sad.

“This is why you have to get to Meridian, Sara,” he said softly. “Fuck whatever Tann and the others say. If we don’t make it out here, there’s a good chance that there’ll be nothing left of any of us. Not even back home.”

“I… but…” She floundered, suddenly feeling much like she had when she had first stepped foot on the Nexus. Unprepared, frightened, unsure of so much. “...Did they…?”

He nodded.

“In 2186, it all went to hell. We only just got out ahead of it,” he confessed dryly. “According to the frequencies the Hyperion picked up, the Reapers hit hard and fast. Doctor T’Soni even sent a couple of additional transmissions after it happened. There’s one you’ll want to hear.”

He paused and then tapped some commands into the console. There was a buzz, and then-

“ _ Hey there, Ryders. _ ” 

Sara had to clap her hand over her mouth. Her chest seized, dragging in a sharp breath. She hadn’t heard this voice in over six hundred years… Honestly, she hadn’t expected to hear it ever again.

“ _ Liara told me about the Initiative. Said she even spoke with the Old Man a few years back. Must have slipped my radar. I… Guess we didn’t talk much after Ellen passed...”  _ Eydis paused and there was a faint squeak, which prompted a small, breathy chuckle.  _ “Thanks," she whispered.  _

_ She then cleared her throat  _

_ "The year is 2186 and, well… I’m glad you got out in time. Things are bad right now. The Reapers are here in strength, and they’re everything we feared. Admiral Anderson ordered me to the Citadel to petition the Council… I’m not getting my hopes up to be honest. They’ve never been helpful. _ ”

She snorted derisively, which was funny considering that she worked for said Council. Never one for holding her bosses in too high a regard that they were above reproach.

_ “Listen. We have a plan for taking down the Reapers. It’s a long shot, and while I know I do my best work with impossible odds and I have no intention of lying down and dying, I know it won’t be easy. We’re up against the greatest threat that any of our species have ever seen. And I saw what they did to Earth.” _

There was a lengthy pause.

_ “I love you. All three of you. Yes Old Man, even you. I know we didn’t see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and I can’t say we spent the most time together, but your mentoring in N7 helped prepare me. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. _

_ “Casey, I hope you get all the adventure you’ve always dreamed of, and none of the politics to get in the way of it. You were a hell of a soldier, and the Alliance only wishes it still had you. You helped take on Sovereign, and that means Andromeda’s got nothing it can throw at you that you can’t handle. _

_ “And Sara, you make those discoveries you love so much. Prothean or not, I’m sure Andromeda has plenty of mysteries that need solving. And this time, you’ll get to be at the forefront, I’m sure of it. Just make sure to come up for air every now and then. Take a breath and let yourself enjoy the moment a little, okay? _

_ “Shepard? Are you-” _

_ “Yeah, I’m nearly done. Okay, I’ve gotta go. We’re starting our approach run soon, and I doubt the Council will be happy if I show up in sweatpants and a hoodie with a hamster in my hands.” _

There was another squeak, and suddenly Sara recognised it for the squeak of a small rodent. Commander Eydis Shepard, Captain of the Normandy, First Human Spectre and Saviour of the Citadel, had been recording this in her pjs and with a hamster in her hands.

Somehow, it made Sara feel better that she did the same in her own downtime.

_ “I don’t know how this will all turn out. I want to believe we can win. With this weapon, we’ve got a shot. But don’t go worrying about us so much that you break, okay? You’ve got your own challenges to face. Think about us, your people, what’s at stake if you fail, but don’t let it control you. You’ve got this. _

_ “This is Commander Shepard of the SR2 - Normandy, signing off.” _

Sara was barely aware of the fact that she was crying when the transmission ended. The tears just kept coming, rolling down her cheeks and refusing to stop as her shoulders quivered.

Slowly, Alec edged towards her and - with no small amount of awkwardness - placed an arm around Sara’s shoulders and squeezed.

She crumpled into his side, sobbing.

She had known her sister was dead. Knew that everyone she had ever known was dead. But hearing her voice, hearing her talking about the end of the world as they knew it… And to sound so calm, even resigned over it all. Not even Akuze had left Eydis so quietly tired like that, and this had been recorded just after the war had  _ begun _ , much less when it had been well under way.

And now Sara had to succeed, or else it could well all be for nothing. There might be nothing left in the Milky Way, nothing to continue without them. It was terrifying.

_ Don’t let it control you. _

Eydis said that a lot about fear. Feeling it, but acting in spite of it. Letting it drive you forwards, but not letting it cloud your vision. Sara was beginning to understand now.

After a long few minutes, she straightened herself and she realised that she wasn’t the only one in tears. A trickle had escaped down her father’s face, and she reached up to thumb it away. He smiled a little and did the same in turn.

“We have to find Meridian,” she said determinedly. “For them. For her.”

Alec nodded, that flicker of pride burning bright in his eyes.

“You will.”


End file.
